"He came here some time ago, wanting to find a doctor to treat him. However, at that time, all the doctors were captured by King Wapol of Drum Kingdom and were not allowed to treat others freely."
"In the end, he and his crew destroyed this country, and Wapol was driven away by him. No one knows what happened next. That was the only time those people appeared."
The residents of Drum Island had no fondness for Wapol, nor did they have any goodwill toward Blackbeard. Facing King's inquiry, Dalton gave a straightforward answer.
"Where did those guys go?"
"I don't know. He might have spoken with the doctors. I can help you ask around."
"Alright, I'll wait here."
After that, Kureha left the castle temporarily with Dalton. But Dalton found Kureha's attitude strange.
She was being too polite—so polite that it didn't seem like her at all. Based on Kureha's usual habits, she shouldn't have been showing a good attitude toward an uninvited guest like King.
"Dalton, you're too young. And as a king, you should pay more attention to the outside world. That guy is a monster.
Before, Blackbeard was able to destroy the Drum Kingdom. If this guy goes crazy, he can just as easily destroy our Sakura Kingdom.
There's no need to offend someone like him over such a trivial matter."
Kureha had far more experience than Dalton. They had no ties to Blackbeard, and offending a powerful monster over a few words was meaningless—especially a monster capable of bringing disaster to an entire country.
The doctors on Drum Island provided King with some valuable information. After roughly determining the direction Blackbeard had gone, King once again set out to track him down.
...
Near Jaya Island, the scene aboard the Going Merry had become even more bizarre.
"Come on, follow my moves! One, two, jump!"
On the deck of the Going Merry, Bon Kurei was leading Luffy and the others in learning the okama dance. Behind him were Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper.
However, their movements were far from as coordinated as Bon Kurei's. As they spun around, they ended up crashing into each other, eventually tumbling into a heap—right on top of the dozing Zoro.
"Enough already! Stop messing around!"
"Heraaacross!"
Nami and Hercules both sighed and held their foreheads in sync, their movements surprisingly identical.
Although Bon Kurei was an okama, his personality had been accepted by Luffy and the others. But the problem was that he wasn't the type to sit still. His presence didn't make the Straw Hat Pirates any calmer—on the contrary, they became even more abnormal.
Okama, reindeer, lovestruck fool, directionally challenged, idiot—after taking a closer look, Nami realized that the most normal one on the ship was actually a beetle.
Looking at the Log Pose in her hand, which was pointing toward the sky, she had no choice but to discuss their next move with Hercules.
Thanks to the two Heracross from her hometown, she had no language barrier when communicating with Hercules, allowing them to properly plan their next steps.
"Sky Island? Are you saying there's really an island in the sky?"
"Heraaacross~ Heraaacross~ [I've never been there, but my companions have.]"
Throughout the journey, Hercules frequently talked with other Heracross they encountered, gathering some information.
...
Later, on Jaya Island, they met Cricket.
For people without the ability to fly, the only safe route to Skypiea was via the Summit of High West. However, the entrance to this route was extremely far from Jaya Island, which was why Cricket had never been able to find a way to Skypiea.
Thanks to the information provided by the pub owner, he became even more convinced of Skypiea's existence and continued salvaging to make a living while slowly saving up.
Whenever he met pirates with an adventurous spirit, he would propose hiring them to take him to Skypiea.
However, he had never encountered pirates who truly had the courage to charge toward Skypiea. After all, for ordinary people, Knock Up Stream was essentially a road to doom, and the probability of successfully reaching Skypiea was almost zero.
That was until Luffy arrived—only then did he finally meet a group of brave people.
Skypiea, as always, charged an entrance fee for visitors. Additionally, due to the influence of the Beasts Pirates, the currency had been standardized to Berry.
A 100,000 Berry entrance fee wasn't much, but given Nami's stingy nature, when she heard that they could enter for free, she naturally chose the money-saving option.
However, when they set foot on the real Sky Island and saw the two flags hanging over the White Sea, an instinctive chill ran down their spines.
"Uh... Doesn't that flag look kind of familiar...?"
The flag having a skull with horns and the Thousand Arms were crossed and hanging over the beach of Angel Island. As Nami stared at those eerily familiar symbols, beads of sweat trickled down her forehead.
"I just remembered—I seem to have developed an illness where I'll die if I don't pay the entrance fee. Nami, how about we go back and pay it after all?"
"But the guy at the entrance said we could enter for free..."
Faced with the thought of losing money, Nami was still hesitant. Seeing her conflicted expression, Usopp's face turned into one of utter despair.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
As they were hesitating, several arrows suddenly embedded themselves into the deck of the Going Merry. In the sky, a fatty with wings was flying toward them.
NO.49 of the Beasts Pirates, Bat-Man, was one of the stationed personnel on Skypiea. Upon receiving the news, he naturally came over.
In the original timeline, he had his own moment of glory—after all, he was a "little genius" who could "take on a Four Emperor."
But unlike in the original timeline, now he didn't need to rely on the animation team to shine. For Luffy, he is the genuine "Bat Emperor."
"Kikikiki, it's been years! Finally, someone has chosen this path! Are you the ones who've chosen the trial?"
"Trial? What trial?"
"Huh? That old lady at the entrance didn't explain it to you?"
Bat-Man furrowed his brow but still went on to explain the current rules of Skypiea.
"Ordinary people have to pay an entrance fee. If you don't pay, that means you've chosen the second option—participating in our trial.
If you fail the trial, you have to pay double the entrance fee. But if you defeat me, you can enter for free and even earn the chance to join us. You guys didn't know?"
"Uh, actually, this is a misunderstanding..."
"So, you're saying you're messing with me? According to our rules, liars are to be sent to the mines."
"No way! Usopp is my crewmate! I won't let you send him to the mines!"
Bat-Man blinked in confusion. He had no idea what the Straw Hat kid in front of him was talking about. He had clearly said "liar," when did he ever mention the word "Usopp"? [TN: Usopp and liar's pinyin sound the same.]
"Enough nonsense! In our territory, there's no turning back. You've come this far—get ready to take the trial!"
"So, all I have to do is defeat you?"
"You naive rookie. It's not just you who has to defeat me—it's all of you!"
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